Why Donate to CHOICES?

When you make a donation to CHOICES, you are making a direct and meaningful difference in the lives of real people in our community when they need it most. Your gifts help us to provide high-quality, affordable, affirming reproductive healthcare to everyone who walks through our doors, even if they can’t afford the full cost of the services they need. The following stories illustrate what a difference your generosity can make.

Learn more about CHOICES’ financial structure and the impact your donation on our Guidestar Profile.

The Power of a Single Donation:

A story of hope from a CHOICES’ Patient Educator

“I’m in hiding right now.” She said it to her knees. She didn’t really say it to me. She just sort of said it. And she sounded apologetic, guilty, self-deprecating. I turned to look at her, and asked her what she meant.

She told me about her long-term boyfriend, who had recently become abusive. She told me about how he had started waiting for her outside of her work. How he was driving the car that she had purchased for him, and when she reported it stolen to the police, they said they couldn’t do anything because she knew who had it. She showed me the long thin scar on her forehead, a gift he had given her a few months before. She had quit her job because she wasn’t safe there. She was bouncing between different relatives’ houses so that he wouldn’t know where to find her. She didn’t want to go to a shelter because she didn’t want her two small children to have to live with that memory forever. She was broken, terrified, on edge. Her right eye twitched compulsively, and she wrung her hands the whole time we spoke.

The baby was his. She couldn’t let him know. She had no money, and no one who could lend it to her. When I told her about the Patient Assistance Fund, it was the first time she looked even remotely relieved. She cried, and apologized for crying, as so many victims do. I told her that she was strong and she was tough and she was going to be ok. She almost looked like she believed me.

When she came back for her second visit, she said she was going to start a new life with her sister, who lives in another state. She seemed hopeful and excited. I don’t know what that girl would have had to do if CHOICES didn’t have the funds to help her pay for her procedure. Luckily, I won’t have to find out.

A Year Ago This Wouldn’t Have Happened: A Patient Educator’s Story

“A tearful19-year-old mother of 3 was sitting in my office. She had been kicked out of her mother’s house, and then, when she became pregnant again, her grandmother kicked her out too. She and her 3 children were living in her car… Of course, she wished circumstances were different and that could provide the love and support every child deserves to another baby, but she didn’t want to bring another child into her life of poverty and uncertainty.”

This CHOICES Voices Community Blog post from Hilarie Dahlhauser, a patient educator at CHOICES, explains why your donations are so important and what an enormous difference they can make in the lives of patients.

Thank You Letters from Patients Who Have Received Financial Assistance